On Wednesday night, the USC men’s basketball team fell 101-65 to Illinois at Galen Center. With the loss, the Trojans dropped to 18-8 on the season and 7-8 in Big Ten play.
Typically after basketball games, I give five takeaways. After what happened Wednesday night, however, I only have three words: That. Was. Embarrassing.
Absolutely demolished
The Trojans did not just lose. They got absolutely demolished. This game was over before it even began, with Illinois going up 15-3 less than six minutes in and never looking back.
USC allowed 101 points—in regulation. Illinois had six different players score 11 or more points. The Illini made 13 three-pointers and recorded 41 rebounds. It was an absolute butt-kicking.
Difficult circumstances
Yes, Illinois is a really good team. And yes, the Trojans have had brutal injury luck this season, with Rodney Rice lost for the season and Chad Baker-Mazara still out. There would have been no shame whatsoever in losing this game.
At least show some fight
But USC did not just lose. The Trojans never even showed up. Plain and simple, USC got run out of its own building. Regardless of the circumstances, losing by 36 points at home is unacceptable.
An away game at home
That not showing up also applied to USC fans. At the start of the game, there were at least two or three times as many Illinois fans in the crowd as Trojans. By the start of the second half, when USC was already down by 22 points and the students had claimed their free jerseys and left, it was probably a 80-90% Illini crowd in Los Angeles.
Cannot happen again
Plain and simple, Wednesday night was an absolute embarrassment for the USC men’s basketball program. Regardless of how the rest of this season goes for the Trojans, what we saw at Galen Center against Illinois simply cannot happen again.
USC returns to action on Saturday at home against Oregon. Eric Musselman better have his team ready to play this time.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC men’s basketball blown out 101-65 by Illinois at home